Green Clean

As I mentioned it my column introduction, my newfound respect for living a green life all stemmed from trying a new cleaning product. I had heard rumblings that many standard cleaning products contained harmful chemicals, but really, up until I was faced with replacing a particular cleaner and was given an economically equivalent, environmentally friendly option, I tended to ignore such warnings. I’ll be honest: I was slightly overwhelmed with what specific chemicals were harmful and trying to recognize their long names in a list of many was too daunting. Over the past year and a half, I have made it a priority to education myself on the dangers of these chemicals, and I hope I can help make some sense for you, too.

The good, the bad, and the downright evil

It is hard to comprehend that a product meant to clean and rid our lives of germs is actually bad for us, but it’s true. Our society seems to be germ obsessed and with that growing obsession has come a new understanding of the word “clean.” Unfortunately, germ-free is so difficult to obtain that it necessitates the use of harmful and dangerous chemicals to achieve. While a sparkling clean kitchen or germ-free bathroom looks nice, the hidden danger is to the environment and ourselves. The very products that we are using to help clean ourselves are causing worrying environmental and health risks. Many of the chemicals found in cleaning products have been linked with serious health issues such as cancer, asthma, reproductive disorders, blood disorders, and skin and respiratory problems. Environmentally, these chemicals are adding to an already substantial air pollution problem and creating havoc in our ocean/water environments.

As reported by CBC Marketplace, “In Canada, respiratory illness is now the leading cause of admission to hospital for children. Childhood asthma has jumped by 400 per cent. After injuries, cancer is now the leading cause of death in children between the ages of five and nine.” In a society that bombards the consumer with a different cleaning product for every room and/or piece of furniture in the house, these statistics are, sadly, not surprising (Household Cleaners).

A typical cleaning product contains a list of ingredients so long it rivals a weekly grocery list for a family of four.  It’s easy to get confused when reading these labels, and even more confusing to try and separate which chemicals are dangerous, which ones are not so great, and which ones are livable at the very least.  What’s especially frightening is that often many of the truly harmful chemicals are not even included in the ingredient list— No wonder we’re all boggled!

Cleaning products are regulated in Canada under Health Canada’s Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulation, 2001 (CCCR-2001), and while this act ensures that seriously hazardous chemicals are labeled as such, it does not dictate that all ingredients are labeled on a product. Nor does it consider that certain combinations of products could be toxic. Perhaps most frightening is that the act does not consider long-term exposure risks, such as cancer. It is up to us as consumers then to regulate our own use of these cleaning products.

What’s that name again?

There are many chemicals found in the cleaning products we use. Some of the most harmful are listed below. For other lists please see The Guide to Less Toxic Products, Kidsorganic.com, and the Pollution Information Site.  Also, the US Department of Health and Human Services offers an extensive list of harmful chemical ingredients in its Household Products Database (I could not find a Canadian government-based alternative). My general rule of thumb when looking at an ingredient list for a product is to try and recognize as many ingredients as possible. The more complicated the name, the higher chance there is that it isn’t good for you. The best products I have found have a very short ingredient list, naming such things as aqua (water), lemon/citrus, and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).

Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, Methanol, Ethylbenzene
Found in oven cleaners, disinfectants, detergents, bathroom cleaners, polishes, adhesives, paints and finishes, these chemicals have been linked to cancer, and damage of the nervous system.

Formaldehyde
Most often found in deodorizers and dish detergents, formaldehyde has been known to cause cancer. Formaldehyde has also been associated with asthma, joint pain, depression, headaches, chest pains, ear infections, chronic fatigue, dizziness and loss of sleep.

Parabans (also: methylparaban, ethylparaban, butylparaban, and propylparaban)
The use of parabans in and of themselves will be addressed in a future column. Found in many products, including cleaning products, parabans are known to disturb hormone levels.

Diethanolamine (DEA)
Aside from being a skin and eye irritant, DEA is also a suspected carcinogen. It is found in many cleaning products.

Phosphates
Phosphates used to be common in laundry detergents and are often still found in dishwater detergent. Phosphates are especially dangerous because of the risk they pose to ocean life. One of the major effects of excess phosphates is that they create what is known as an “algae bloom,” which can lead to suffocation of ocean life.

2-butoxyethanol/ Ethylene glycol butyl ether
Found in carpet cleaners and room deodorizers, these chemicals can cause all kinds of health problems including blood disorders, liver and kidney damage, and long-term exposure has been linked with reproductive disorders.

Ammonia
Found in a wide range of cleaning products, ammonia is a severe eye and respiratory  irritant. As well as chemical burns and corneal damage, ammonia can also cause kidney and liver damage. Some instances of bronchitis and pneumonia have been linked with long-term exposure to ammonia. Ammonia, when mixed with bleach, will form a poisonous chlorine gas.

Ethoxylated nonyl phenols (NPEs)
NPEs have been getting into our streams and rivers and creating an excess of estrogen, leading to a near-elimination of males in some species of fish. The European Union has subsequently banned NPEs from all cleaning products. NPEs are found in many commonly used household products such as  hand soaps, glass cleaners, oven cleaners, laundry detergent, toilet bowl cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, and carpet shampoos. NPEs have also been associated with birth defects, breast cancer, and reproductive disorders (including reduced sperm count in men).

Silica
Found in many abrasive cleanings, silica has been listed as a known carcinogen.

Trisodium nitrilotriacetate (NTA)
Another known carcinogen, NTA can be found in laundry detergents.

Bleach (Sodium hypochlorite)
On its own, sodium hypochlorite is extremely toxic to fish.  Mixed with either acids or ammonia, it can form a chloramine gas, which is extremely toxic. Since tests have confirmed that many germs can be eliminated through simple soap and water scrubbing, there is very little need for bleach to be used in the home.

Greener alternatives

So what can we do to help product ourselves and the environment? The first step is to switch to greener cleaning products. Many companies are now coming out with “greener” options in their cleaning products. A word of warning: it is still important to read the labels on these “green” products and proceed with caution. There is no standard for what qualifies a “green” product in Canada. Sometimes a company will label themselves as “environmentally friendly” if their packaging is recyclable without paying any attention to its contents (and vice versa). Until there are industry regulations in environmentally friendly products, it is still important to maintain a high sense of consumer awareness when shopping.

Saying that, however, there are many perfectly ok cleaning products out there for those of us who do not wish to make our own but who want to limit the amount of exposure to harmful chemicals. Seventh Generation, Nature Clean, Simply Clean, and Simple Green offer economically competitive environmentally friendly alternatives to the products that contain harmful chemicals. I particularly like Seventh  Generation for their full-disclosure policy on the ingrediants they use in their products (you can view them online).One tip: check out the organic section of your local grocery store. Often, I have found true natural products here for a similar price as the products in the main aisle.

Speaking of price, I have to say that more often than not, I don’t pay that much more than the mainstream product. I tend to stock up when there are sales, and I do find that shopping in organic sections or natural stores saves you a few dollars more than the eco-friendly version of a product that already exists. Even if you sometimes do have to pay a few dollars more/product but isn’t the payoff—our health and our earth—worth it?

Natural alternatives
A very easy way to limit chemical exposure is to make your own cleaning products. I’ll admit that a year ago, this task seemed daunting to me. In fact, I may  have offered to pay a friend to make cleaning products for me. Fastforward one year and I now clean 90% of my house using products I make myself. A very basic list of ingredients you can use to clean your house includes vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and baking soda. The combination of any of these ingredients can be used to scrub kitchen counters and sinks, wash floors, and clean bathrooms. For more intense recipes you can stock up on borax, soap, and hydrogen peroxide. To illustrate how easy natural cleaning can be, after supper each night, I sprinkle baking soda on my kitchen counters. I then take a damp cloth (reusable!) and scrub my counters. I follow this up by going over the counters once more with another damp cloth. Done. I don’t even need to mix things together in order to clean. For me, I find the simplier, the better. (FYI: Baking soda does a great job on kitchen sinks as well!) An additional perk to using natural ingrediants to clean: you save money since vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda are inexpensive to buy.

For make-at-home cleaning recipes, check out EcoCycle, Going Green Challenge, or The Environment Network.

The Guide to Less Toxic Products states that “on a typical cleaning day in a typical Canadian home, levels of chemicals in the indoor air can be hundreds, even thousands of times higher than the outdoor air in the most polluted of cities.” That statement has be shaking my head. Children are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of these chemicals, both because their immune systems have yet to fully form, and for the fact that they are in nearest proximity to these chemicals as they sit/play on the floor, often putting things in their mouths. There are many chemicals in our world we are exposed to that we have very little control over. Limiting the chemicals in our own homes is something we can do, and more importantly, is something we should do. It really is a simple change that has long-lasting implications.

For More Information

The Dirt on Cleaners: Toxic Ingredients in Cleaning Products (Health and Environmental Awareness Project)

The Guide to Less Toxic Products (Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia)

CBC Marketplace: Household Cleaners (Natural Organic Health)

Related posts:

1. Little Acts of Green
2. Little Acts of Green
3. Little Acts of Green